Stay hydrated. As carb intake is lowered, the kidneys will start dumping excess water being retained as a result of the former higher carb intake. Make sure to drink enough water to replace what gets lost. The old 6-8 glasses is a good rule, I guess, although just drinking to thirst will probably do the trick. If you find yourself getting headaches and muscle cramps, you need more water, and more minerals such as salt, magnesium and potassium, because the water loss also takes minerals with it. (See my low carb diet side effects page for more info).
That’s why many health experts are concerned about people on the keto diet, especially those who try it without the guidance of a doctor or nutritionist. Doctors say that high-fat diets like this one may raise cholesterol levels, and some studies suggest that they increase the risk of diabetes. Some have even called it a “cardiologist’s nightmare.”
The ketogenic diet is usually initiated in combination with the patient's existing anticonvulsant regimen, though patients may be weaned off anticonvulsants if the diet is successful. There is some evidence of synergistic benefits when the diet is combined with the vagus nerve stimulator or with the drug zonisamide, and that the diet may be less successful in children receiving phenobarbital.[3]
Another common mistake that she sees is that people focus too much on macronutrients: "Micronutrients are really important too as ketosis is metabolically demanding and the diet is not nutritionally adequate most of the time." She says that most of her clients take multivitamins, carnitine supplements, calcium supplements and sometimes selenium or zinc.
By cutting carb intake significantly, we can drastically reduce insulin resistance, the precursor to type 2 diabetes. In addition, low carb diets, along with exercise, can be very effective at helping alleviate the symptoms and progression of type 2 diabetes. Beyond that, ketosis itself is appetite-suppressing, meaning your hunger will naturally check itself, increasing your caloric deficit and making you lose fat even faster.

Chasing blood Ketones instead of focusing on hormone signals: "The higher the number means you have more Ketones circulating in your bloodstream, but that does not mean that you are better at burning fat for fuel," Mavridis points out. "You must be in nutritional Ketosis, which is described as being between 1.5 - 3.0 mol/L on the blood Ketone meter. You will know once you are fat-adapted from hormonal signals, and not from higher Ketones on the blood meter," she adds.

All the bad hype you have been hearing about high-fat diets is not exactly true. If you personally read the studies involving high-fat diets, you’ll discover that 99% of it is a combination of high-fat and high-carbohydrate diets. When you combine high carbohydrates with fat or even protein, insulin will spike dramatically. So that deep-fried donut or deep-fried fatty fries are really fried carbohydrates.
Note: Are you a vegetarian or vegan and want to go on a ketogenic diet? It’s still possible! Just keep in mind that the dietary restrictions can sometimes be a little bit intense. Make sure to plan ahead and prepare to aid your success. To help out, we’ve published articles (with 7 day meal plans included) for both the vegetarian ketogenic diet and the vegan ketogenic diet.